Scissett is in a beautiful part of the country. In my construction days, I used to nip off the M1 to head up to Huddersfield & the M62 via Flockton which is a bit north of Emley & Scissett. Gods country.
We have now settled into the new home and are all enjoying the peace and quiet of our new location, with Willow particularly enjoying her new neighbours, Mr and Mrs Squirrel, although I am not sure the feeling is mutual. Already started on the Mrs' job list and fitted a new kitchen tap, emptied the gutters, jet washed the block paving, weeded garden etc, etc. Last weekend we ventured to Birstall and after viewing what seemed 100's of sofas we eventually decided on a corner sofa along with a couple of armchairs in a modern steel grey leather. Even if I say so myself I think it is rather chic, although it wants to be for the price it cost. Also bought a new king size bed and mattress for our bedroom. Both will take between 10 to 14 weeks to arrive which is the deadline for redecorating to be done. There are one or two jobs that need doing by a 'expert' such as extractor fan in ensuite sorting, new sink installing, bigger dishwasher fitting. You don't realise what a godsend a dishwasher is until you don't have one. You will all of heard of the Leaning Tower of Pisa but how many of you are aware of the Leaning Shed of Scissett. This remarkable landmark will unfortunately soon be lost to the annuals of history, that is once I can afford a new one. Do you know how expensive sheds are! Went to The Crown on Saturday and have to say it doesn't compare favourably to The Grove with no cask ale on offer and the only redeeming feature being a half decent pint of Guinness. I think once Willow is back to full health, hopefully after this Thursday when she has a follow up scan with the surgeon, we will be making the extra 10 mins walk to The Grove. On the poker front I have been sticking mainly to the cash tables and with some degree of success as shown below.
The shorter sessions and ability to come and go are certainly suiting my needs better at the moment, although the lack of traffic at certain times is a definite negative of SkyPoker. Really looking forward to a couple of things over the forthcoming weeks with the opening of casinos, how I do miss live poker, the ability to sit in a pub rather than freeze one's b*****ks off and the chance to take our lass for a nice meal. What I have found refreshing about the new way pubs operate is the introduction of table service, long may that continue as that is one thing I don't mind importing from Europe.
Three weeks to the day since my last update and its been busy. Cracking on with house and we are now in full decorating mode, a job I really loathe. Having spent a full two days completing our bedroom and en-suite I was not best pleased when the wife and son decided to critique my work and I threw the proverbial paint brush out of the cot and declared that I had retired from all decorating as I hate it and I am apparently s**t at it. Suits me!!! After the wife's attempts today I think she is beginning to realise she may have been a bit too critical. As the saying goes "you make's your bed...." I, however, had a lovely day in the garden. I did have a rather harrowing experience last week which started one afternoon as Willow and I were walking past the "rabbit field". We were both stood there watching the 20 or so mummy, daddy and baby rabbits hopping about and I was thinking what a lovely scene when along came a cat and snatched one of the babies. The next day Willow and I were again walking by the "rabbit field" along the path which is covered by tall trees inhabited with literally 10's of grey squirrels. We stopped to watch and I was explaining to Willow that the three squirrels above were a mummy, followed by it's two babies and she was teaching them to leap across the trees from branch to branch. As we were watching, mummy leapt, baby number one leapt, baby number two leapt followed by a sickening thud as it landed on the path some 30 feet below. That evening I was sat in the new kitchen when I heard a thud against the french doors. Upon inspection there was a bird unconscious on the step. I was now beginning to think that this semi-rural lifestyle might not be for me. Things got even worse the next day when I decided to go to the hand car wash on my way to work. As I was getting near to the car wash I noticed a pigeon take off from the pavement just as I was driving past, I then heard a thud and saw a small cloud of feathers and feared for the worst as I looked in the rear view mirror to see my next victim. There was no sign of the afore-mentioned pigeon and I carried on to the car wash happy in the knowledge he had escaped. As the lad spraying the car got around to the front he suddenly turned off the jet and beckoned for me to get out. As I got out to see what the fuss was all about he shouted 'I've never seen owt like this' and called his mate over. You can imagine my surprise when I found the front passenger's kidney grill of my BMW smashed and a pigeon wedged between the driver's kidney grill and the radiator. Luckily after a fair bit of squeezing and fluttering we managed to get the poor chap out and were all relieved when he flew off. Not so relieved when I got the bill for a new kidney grill. With the summer holidays around the corner and two weeks booked off in August I was hoping me and the Mrs would get away for some foreign sunshine. We have today made the decision to have a staycation and I am in the process of booking two cottages in the Yorkshire Dales region for a week's stay in both. Our thought process is that when you add in the cost of PCR tests, the inconvenience of having the tests before you travel and before you come home, the slight possibility of getting COVID whilst abroad and not being able to return, it just starts to become a no, no. Talking of holidays I have a week off 13th June and already have my itinerary sorted and it will comprise of 3 nights in Devon with my Dad, who I haven't seen for over 12 months, with a stop off at my sisters on the way, a day in Newcastle picking my daughter up from Uni and then 3 nights in the Peak District with 7 mates. We have rented a house in a small village and will basically be drinking and watching the Euros including England v Scotland. Hope the local pubs ready!!! On the poker front I haven't been playing much and when I have its been MTT's mainly on Party. The bankroll is still close to £3k and my plan for June is to withdraw approx £2k, expensive thing is a new house and BMW parts, and leave £1k in the bankroll. With SKY offering double points, and warm and bright evenings on the cards for the rest of June, I will be 4-6 tabling 20nl & 30nl for the month. Quick update on the decorating. The wife has just informed me that her best friend uses a decorator who is very reasonable and she is going to give him a ring.
Have you managed to venture out to a Casino & play any Live poker yet? Where would you have to go - Leeds? Sheffield?
Glad you enjoyed the update. I play at either Huddersfield or Leeds Grosvenor but every time I look at their app there is a large waiting list and a lack of open tables so not bothered yet. Hoping that they may run a few more tournies as restrictions hopefully ease. At the moment there is only cash at Huddersfield and two capped tournies a week in Leeds.
House is more or less done for now, England nearly won the Euros, everybody suddenly loves Jack, COVID is over (apparently) and I have hardly touched a virtual poker chip. Following on from my previous update I managed to get hold of three decorators who were all recommended, two of whom couldn't fit us in until October and another one who came out to price up the job. After he spent half an hour measuring and jotting down on his notepad he left, for us never to hear from him again. By this point we had been out and ordered wood flooring for the lounge and a new carpet for the stairs, landing and master bedroom. This had given us a 5 week window to get these areas painted before the new flooring was fitted. I therefore reluctantly donned the paint brush and proceeded to spend what seemed every spare minute getting the job done. I managed to get it all completed with a couple of days to spare and we have since had the flooring done, a new dishwasher and range cooker installed, new sink put in, the new lounge suite has arrived and various other little jobs have been sorted. We now await the arrival of our new bed and then we have finished phase one. Phase two involves the re-decorating of our son's bedroom and as our lass is now on 6 weeks summer hols this is down to her and him. I have also managed to get on top of the garden and added the finishing touches the other day by planting a couple of fruit trees. Despite England reaching the final of the Euros I do think it was a missed opportunity and just wish Southgate would go and let this team play. We have sooooo much attacking talent and although Phillips and Rice were immense I always had that feeling we could of really blown teams away if we had gone for it. To hear other fans singing Grealish's name was very strange and to see him now become the darling of English football is a day I never thought I would see. Whatever the next few weeks bring and whether he decides to stay or go he will always have the backing of the majority of the Villa faithful. If he does stay then I can see Villa pushing Top 6 and think Buendia could turn out to be a very astute signing. Without him I would expect us to be mid table. I have managed to get to two Emley AFC pre season friendlies and saw them lose 6-0 to a very good Liversedge side and beat Stocksbridge 2-1. Emley were promoted at the end of last season and will be plying their trade in the Toolstation Northern Counties East League Premier Division (Level 9 of the football pyramid) where the big boys of the league are AFC Mansfield and Garforth Town. In the two games I have seen so far the striking thing was the sheer physical size of the opposition and this was particularly evident against Liversedge where it looked like the stereotypical Men v Boys. Having said that Liversedge got promoted from the Premier League last season and had a real quality centre midfielder who ran the game. Having really enjoyed my two visits I have purchased a membership/season ticket for the princely sum of £100. This entitles me to free entry to all 1st team league games and all U23 and U18 fixtures as well as, and perhaps most importantly, becoming a co-owner of the club. My next visit will be this Friday evening when we play our traditional final friendly at home to a Huddersfield Town U23 team. Work continues to be affected by COVID and the dreaded ping is now causing major issues with many colleagues having to isolate. On the plus side it has been refreshing to see how many customers have actually chosen to continue to wear masks but I would ask that you all remember how tough it is in retail at the moment and don't complain when you have to wait an extra five minutes at the checkout or buy a different brand of product because your normal one isn't available. On the flip side four of us went out for a meal yesterday afternoon, Gringo's in Huddersfield which was very good, and it was nice to feel normal again. In other news my daughter got her results from Uni and made us all very proud when she managed to get a First in Bio-Medical Science and is all set to complete a Masters next year. Two weeks today I will be in the Yorkshire Dales for two weeks with the wife and Willow. We are stopping in two cottages for a week each, one in Barningham and one in Arkengarthdale. Not quite the mediterranean cruise we had hoped for but still two relaxing weeks of dog walking, drinking and fine food. With our South facing garden and the peace and quiet of our new setting I have started reading a lot more and have found Robert Dugoni's mysteries enjoyable. With home life starting to return to a bit of normality, but wanting to spend less time at a computer screen going forward, I will be playing poker again and will be found on the nl20 and nl30 cash tables rather than the MTT tables.
Lovely update, you really do seem to have great life balance.
No Willow update?
Working in retail 'life balance' isn't something that comes easy. I work hard at it and learnt a long time ago that you work to live, not live to work. I also realise how lucky I am to be able to do the nice things in life and try to appreciate and make the most of what life has given me. Willow is fine and dandy with her leg op a distant memory and she loves her new circular one hour walk that allows her off the lead for 99.9% of it as we stroll the fields between Scissett and Emley. Had a quick one hour session on the 30nl tables and came away with a small loss of £15.
Part of the terms of him leaving is that if Aston Villa win anything in the next 5 years, they must allow Mr Terry to be on the bench in full Aston Villa kit
Was always going to happen. Fair play to him though. In his time at Villa he always gave everything and he definitely helped Jack to mature and also gave the team a bit of that winning desire it has so often lacked over the years. Good Luck to him wherever he ends up, probably somewhere in Wales.
Grealish, will he, won't he? Don't think anyone knows barring Jack. I do wonder if us announcing Leon Bailey (could be a huge star in the making) before he has passed his medical was to show to Jack we mean business. I really hope he does stay but do understand if he chooses to go. The one thing I will say is that if he does stay this once famous club could be returning to Europe next season especially if we do get Ward-Prowse and Cantwell as well. Emley AFC got off to a decent start to their league campaign with a solid point in a 0-0 draw away at Winterton Rangers in front of a crowd of 154. Although Emley had the woodwork to thank with it coming to their rescue as Winterton hit the bar from two penalties. On Friday I attended the Fantastic Media Stadium (who said only the big clubs could sell the naming rights to their stadium) to watch The Peewits (Emley's nickname) Under 23 side take on Huddersfield Town's Under 23's. Emley played Town off the park and in a thoroughly impressive performance beat the Championship team 3-0. Some of the link up play from Emley was outstanding and although the Town kids had undeniable individual ability they just couldn't match Emley's desire and teamwork. To say it was the end of July I forgot just how cold the wind at Emley could be and as a result ordered myself a hip flask on my return home. Now that I am a season ticket holder and will be attending a fair few games, some at night, to watch the U18's, U23's and First Team a tot of whiskey may help keep out the cold. Emley 1st team's next game is on Sunday at home to Congleton Town in the FA Cup. On Sunday me, our lass and Willow will be making our way to the Yorkshire Dales for a couple of weeks so will be keeping an eye on Twitter to see how they get on. Went out with our lass last night and tried two new pubs, to us, at the far end of the village. They are about a 15 minute walk and it is a walk we won't be making again. The first one I had high hopes for as I had seen the inside on a TV programme featuring Jodie Whittaker (Dr Who fame who was born in Skelmanthorpe) and her Dad had been interviewed in there. On the programme it looked lovely and was full of happy faces having a good time. As we went in it was like going back 50 years in time and at 7:30pm on a Saturday night it was surprising to find the two of us were the only company for the landlord, one bloke stood at the bar and the highlight of the visit the resident Jack Russell. The producer of the TV programme obviously earnt their money that day! I do wonder how places like this survive. One pint and we moved on to the next one which I drive past daily and always looks nice from the outside. Funny how wrong first impressions can be. It wasn't as bad as the first one, only felt like going back 30 years. Another pint and then we got a taxi up to our old local The Grove, where we had a few pints and then made our way to Solo's for a sit down Indian, after picking up a bottle of red at the Co-Op. What the evening did confirm for us is that although we now live in the next village to Skelmanthorpe the £5 taxi fare is going to be a solid investment going forward. On the poker front I have had a couple of sessions since the last update and both of these were losing. Playing 6 tables at the moment, a mix of 30nl and 20nl. Going forward I will probably focus more on the 20nl tables unless what I perceive to be a soft table at 30nl pops up. The biggest leak in my game is that I have colour coded and have notes on the majority of players in the pool but then take little or no notice of these and end up playing pots against the good regs when I should be targeting the recs. Need to listen to @The_Don90 and pick my opponents and tables a lot more carefully.
Returned from a 2 week break in The Dales on Friday morning and had a lovely two weeks. First week was a cottage in Barningham which was attached to a lovely village pub and all part of the Milbank Estate, how the other half live. The second week was a small cottage, near the village of Reeth, in the Dales Park and was possibly the most peaceful place I have ever stayed at. Both myself, our lass and Willow all agreed that we could definitely see ourselves retiring to this area when the time comes. It was a really relaxing break involving plenty of walks, visits to Barnard Castle, Richmond, Leyburn, Hawes, Middleham where we got to see the racehorses on the gallops, Ravenseat Farm where we had tea and scones served by Clive and Violet of Our Yorkshire Farm fame and a pint in The Tan Hill, the highest pub in England. Highlights were without doubt just the enjoyment of being out walking on The Dales and the serenity of the place. Willow's highlight was without doubt the numerous rabbits we encountered throughout the two weeks.
A typical view we encountered whilst walking The Dales
The view from the front door of our cottage in the second week
A view of Barnard Castle from the river
Favourite seat in The Dales, a 20 minute walk from our cottage
One Man and his Dog
Having been lucky enough to acquire tickets for Villa yesterday it was a pre match drink with our lad at the Aston Tavern
Then back to The Upper Holte
Thought we played OK without pulling up any trees and will always be able to say I was there for that Ing's GOAL. Highlight was the entire ground minus three thousand disgruntled Geordies and potato head chanting 'VAR my lord, VAR'. It was a vital three points for us as we have a tough run of fixtures post the international break and really could do with three points against The Bees next Saturday. Emley AFC unfortunately lost 2-0 away at City of Liverpool in the FA Cup Preliminary round. They have had a tough start to life in the higher league and currently have two points from three games and are at home to local rivals Penistone Church on Friday night, a game I won't be bale to attend because of work. I will however be off to watch the U23's tomorrow night v Handsworth. House is all done for now with the final few jobs completed over the last couple of days, new bed made, light fittings changed, curtains bought and up etc, etc. Back at work tomorrow, always a tough day after a couple of weeks away, so will be playing just the four tonight - 7 at 7, £6k BH, £1k BH and £500 BH.
Comments
Scissett is in a beautiful part of the country. In my construction days, I used to nip off the M1 to head up to Huddersfield & the M62 via Flockton which is a bit north of Emley & Scissett. Gods country.
We have now settled into the new home and are all enjoying the peace and quiet of our new location, with Willow particularly enjoying her new neighbours, Mr and Mrs Squirrel, although I am not sure the feeling is mutual. Already started on the Mrs' job list and fitted a new kitchen tap, emptied the gutters, jet washed the block paving, weeded garden etc, etc. Last weekend we ventured to Birstall and after viewing what seemed 100's of sofas we eventually decided on a corner sofa along with a couple of armchairs in a modern steel grey leather. Even if I say so myself I think it is rather chic, although it wants to be for the price it cost. Also bought a new king size bed and mattress for our bedroom. Both will take between 10 to 14 weeks to arrive which is the deadline for redecorating to be done. There are one or two jobs that need doing by a 'expert' such as extractor fan in ensuite sorting, new sink installing, bigger dishwasher fitting. You don't realise what a godsend a dishwasher is until you don't have one. You will all of heard of the Leaning Tower of Pisa but how many of you are aware of the Leaning Shed of Scissett. This remarkable landmark will unfortunately soon be lost to the annuals of history, that is once I can afford a new one. Do you know how expensive sheds are!
Went to The Crown on Saturday and have to say it doesn't compare favourably to The Grove with no cask ale on offer and the only redeeming feature being a half decent pint of Guinness. I think once Willow is back to full health, hopefully after this Thursday when she has a follow up scan with the surgeon, we will be making the extra 10 mins walk to The Grove.
On the poker front I have been sticking mainly to the cash tables and with some degree of success as shown below.
The shorter sessions and ability to come and go are certainly suiting my needs better at the moment, although the lack of traffic at certain times is a definite negative of SkyPoker.
Really looking forward to a couple of things over the forthcoming weeks with the opening of casinos, how I do miss live poker, the ability to sit in a pub rather than freeze one's b*****ks off and the chance to take our lass for a nice meal. What I have found refreshing about the new way pubs operate is the introduction of table service, long may that continue as that is one thing I don't mind importing from Europe.
Bankroll £3,164.
Three weeks to the day since my last update and its been busy.
Cracking on with house and we are now in full decorating mode, a job I really loathe. Having spent a full two days completing our bedroom and en-suite I was not best pleased when the wife and son decided to critique my work and I threw the proverbial paint brush out of the cot and declared that I had retired from all decorating as I hate it and I am apparently s**t at it. Suits me!!! After the wife's attempts today I think she is beginning to realise she may have been a bit too critical. As the saying goes "you make's your bed...." I, however, had a lovely day in the garden.
I did have a rather harrowing experience last week which started one afternoon as Willow and I were walking past the "rabbit field". We were both stood there watching the 20 or so mummy, daddy and baby rabbits hopping about and I was thinking what a lovely scene when along came a cat and snatched one of the babies. The next day Willow and I were again walking by the "rabbit field" along the path which is covered by tall trees inhabited with literally 10's of grey squirrels. We stopped to watch and I was explaining to Willow that the three squirrels above were a mummy, followed by it's two babies and she was teaching them to leap across the trees from branch to branch. As we were watching, mummy leapt, baby number one leapt, baby number two leapt followed by a sickening thud as it landed on the path some 30 feet below. That evening I was sat in the new kitchen when I heard a thud against the french doors. Upon inspection there was a bird unconscious on the step. I was now beginning to think that this semi-rural lifestyle might not be for me. Things got even worse the next day when I decided to go to the hand car wash on my way to work. As I was getting near to the car wash I noticed a pigeon take off from the pavement just as I was driving past, I then heard a thud and saw a small cloud of feathers and feared for the worst as I looked in the rear view mirror to see my next victim. There was no sign of the afore-mentioned pigeon and I carried on to the car wash happy in the knowledge he had escaped. As the lad spraying the car got around to the front he suddenly turned off the jet and beckoned for me to get out. As I got out to see what the fuss was all about he shouted 'I've never seen owt like this' and called his mate over. You can imagine my surprise when I found the front passenger's kidney grill of my BMW smashed and a pigeon wedged between the driver's kidney grill and the radiator. Luckily after a fair bit of squeezing and fluttering we managed to get the poor chap out and were all relieved when he flew off. Not so relieved when I got the bill for a new kidney grill.
With the summer holidays around the corner and two weeks booked off in August I was hoping me and the Mrs would get away for some foreign sunshine. We have today made the decision to have a staycation and I am in the process of booking two cottages in the Yorkshire Dales region for a week's stay in both. Our thought process is that when you add in the cost of PCR tests, the inconvenience of having the tests before you travel and before you come home, the slight possibility of getting COVID whilst abroad and not being able to return, it just starts to become a no, no. Talking of holidays I have a week off 13th June and already have my itinerary sorted and it will comprise of 3 nights in Devon with my Dad, who I haven't seen for over 12 months, with a stop off at my sisters on the way, a day in Newcastle picking my daughter up from Uni and then 3 nights in the Peak District with 7 mates. We have rented a house in a small village and will basically be drinking and watching the Euros including England v Scotland. Hope the local pubs ready!!!
On the poker front I haven't been playing much and when I have its been MTT's mainly on Party. The bankroll is still close to £3k and my plan for June is to withdraw approx £2k, expensive thing is a new house and BMW parts, and leave £1k in the bankroll. With SKY offering double points, and warm and bright evenings on the cards for the rest of June, I will be 4-6 tabling 20nl & 30nl for the month.
Quick update on the decorating. The wife has just informed me that her best friend uses a decorator who is very reasonable and she is going to give him a ring.
Bankroll £1,000.
Have you managed to venture out to a Casino & play any Live poker yet? Where would you have to go - Leeds? Sheffield?
Glad you enjoyed the update.
I play at either Huddersfield or Leeds Grosvenor but every time I look at their app there is a large waiting list and a lack of open tables so not bothered yet. Hoping that they may run a few more tournies as restrictions hopefully ease. At the moment there is only cash at Huddersfield and two capped tournies a week in Leeds.
Belated Happy Birthday to me.
Bankroll £914.
@68Trebor
Do you realise that in those 7 years, @Jac35 has started 49 diaries & flounced 49 times?
What an eight weeks that has been!!!!!
House is more or less done for now, England nearly won the Euros, everybody suddenly loves Jack, COVID is over (apparently) and I have hardly touched a virtual poker chip.
Following on from my previous update I managed to get hold of three decorators who were all recommended, two of whom couldn't fit us in until October and another one who came out to price up the job. After he spent half an hour measuring and jotting down on his notepad he left, for us never to hear from him again. By this point we had been out and ordered wood flooring for the lounge and a new carpet for the stairs, landing and master bedroom. This had given us a 5 week window to get these areas painted before the new flooring was fitted. I therefore reluctantly donned the paint brush and proceeded to spend what seemed every spare minute getting the job done. I managed to get it all completed with a couple of days to spare and we have since had the flooring done, a new dishwasher and range cooker installed, new sink put in, the new lounge suite has arrived and various other little jobs have been sorted. We now await the arrival of our new bed and then we have finished phase one. Phase two involves the re-decorating of our son's bedroom and as our lass is now on 6 weeks summer hols this is down to her and him. I have also managed to get on top of the garden and added the finishing touches the other day by planting a couple of fruit trees.
Despite England reaching the final of the Euros I do think it was a missed opportunity and just wish Southgate would go and let this team play. We have sooooo much attacking talent and although Phillips and Rice were immense I always had that feeling we could of really blown teams away if we had gone for it. To hear other fans singing Grealish's name was very strange and to see him now become the darling of English football is a day I never thought I would see. Whatever the next few weeks bring and whether he decides to stay or go he will always have the backing of the majority of the Villa faithful. If he does stay then I can see Villa pushing Top 6 and think Buendia could turn out to be a very astute signing. Without him I would expect us to be mid table.
I have managed to get to two Emley AFC pre season friendlies and saw them lose 6-0 to a very good Liversedge side and beat Stocksbridge 2-1. Emley were promoted at the end
of last season and will be plying their trade in the Toolstation Northern Counties East League Premier Division (Level 9 of the football pyramid) where the big boys of the league are AFC Mansfield and Garforth Town. In the two games I have seen so far the striking thing was the sheer physical size of the opposition and this was particularly evident against Liversedge where it looked like the stereotypical Men v Boys. Having said that Liversedge got promoted from the Premier League last season and had a real quality centre midfielder who ran the game. Having really enjoyed my two visits I have purchased a membership/season ticket for the princely sum of £100. This entitles me to free entry to all 1st team league games and all U23 and U18 fixtures as well as, and perhaps most importantly, becoming a co-owner of the club. My next visit will be this Friday evening when we play our traditional final friendly at home to a Huddersfield Town U23 team.
Work continues to be affected by COVID and the dreaded ping is now causing major issues with many colleagues having to isolate. On the plus side it has been refreshing to see how many customers have actually chosen to continue to wear masks but I would ask that you all remember how tough it is in retail at the moment and don't complain when you have to wait an extra five minutes at the checkout or buy a different brand of product because your normal one isn't available. On the flip side four of us went out for a meal yesterday afternoon, Gringo's in Huddersfield which was very good, and it was nice to feel normal again.
In other news my daughter got her results from Uni and made us all very proud when she managed to get a First in Bio-Medical Science and is all set to complete a Masters next year. Two weeks today I will be in the Yorkshire Dales for two weeks with the wife and Willow. We are stopping in two cottages for a week each, one in Barningham and one in Arkengarthdale. Not quite the mediterranean cruise we had hoped for but still two relaxing weeks of dog walking, drinking and fine food. With our South facing garden and the peace and quiet of our new setting I have started reading a lot more and have found Robert Dugoni's mysteries enjoyable.
With home life starting to return to a bit of normality, but wanting to spend less time at a computer screen going forward, I will be playing poker again and will be found on the nl20 and nl30 cash tables rather than the MTT tables.
Bankroll £920
@68Trebor
Lovely update, you really do seem to have great life balance.
No Willow update?
Working in retail 'life balance' isn't something that comes easy. I work hard at it and learnt a long time ago that you work to live, not live to work.
I also realise how lucky I am to be able to do the nice things in life and try to appreciate and make the most of what life has given me.
Willow is fine and dandy with her leg op a distant memory and she loves her new circular one hour walk that allows her off the lead for 99.9% of it as we stroll the fields between Scissett and Emley.
Had a quick one hour session on the 30nl tables and came away with a small loss of £15.
Bankroll £905
@68Trebor
No surprise here....
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/57969207
Fair play to him though. In his time at Villa he always gave everything and he definitely helped Jack to mature and also gave the team a bit of that winning desire it has so often lacked over the years.
Good Luck to him wherever he ends up, probably somewhere in Wales.
Grealish, will he, won't he? Don't think anyone knows barring Jack. I do wonder if us announcing Leon Bailey (could be a huge star in the making) before he has passed his medical was to show to Jack we mean business. I really hope he does stay but do understand if he chooses to go. The one thing I will say is that if he does stay this once famous club could be returning to Europe next season especially if we do get Ward-Prowse and Cantwell as well.
Emley AFC got off to a decent start to their league campaign with a solid point in a 0-0 draw away at Winterton Rangers in front of a crowd of 154. Although Emley had the woodwork to thank with it coming to their rescue as Winterton hit the bar from two penalties. On Friday I attended the Fantastic Media Stadium (who said only the big clubs could sell the naming rights to their stadium) to watch The Peewits (Emley's nickname) Under 23 side take on Huddersfield Town's Under 23's. Emley played Town off the park and in a thoroughly impressive performance beat the Championship team 3-0. Some of the link up play from Emley was outstanding and although the Town kids had undeniable individual ability they just couldn't match Emley's desire and teamwork. To say it was the end of July I forgot just how cold the wind at Emley could be and as a result ordered myself a hip flask on my return home. Now that I am a season ticket holder and will be attending a fair few games, some at night, to watch the U18's, U23's and First Team a tot of whiskey may help keep out the cold. Emley 1st team's next game is on Sunday at home to Congleton Town in the FA Cup. On Sunday me, our lass and Willow will be making our way to the Yorkshire Dales for a couple of weeks so will be keeping an eye on Twitter to see how they get on.
Went out with our lass last night and tried two new pubs, to us, at the far end of the village. They are about a 15 minute walk and it is a walk we won't be making again. The first one I had high hopes for as I had seen the inside on a TV programme featuring Jodie Whittaker (Dr Who fame who was born in Skelmanthorpe) and her Dad had been interviewed in there. On the programme it looked lovely and was full of happy faces having a good time. As we went in it was like going back 50 years in time and at 7:30pm on a Saturday night it was surprising to find the two of us were the only company for the landlord, one bloke stood at the bar and the highlight of the visit the resident Jack Russell. The producer of the TV programme obviously earnt their money that day! I do wonder how places like this survive. One pint and we moved on to the next one which I drive past daily and always looks nice from the outside. Funny how wrong first impressions can be. It wasn't as bad as the first one, only felt like going back 30 years. Another pint and then we got a taxi up to our old local The Grove, where we had a few pints and then made our way to Solo's for a sit down Indian, after picking up a bottle of red at the Co-Op. What the evening did confirm for us is that although we now live in the next village to Skelmanthorpe the £5 taxi fare is going to be a solid investment going forward.
On the poker front I have had a couple of sessions since the last update and both of these were losing. Playing 6 tables at the moment, a mix of 30nl and 20nl. Going forward I will probably focus more on the 20nl tables unless what I perceive to be a soft table at 30nl pops up. The biggest leak in my game is that I have colour coded and have notes on the majority of players in the pool but then take little or no notice of these and end up playing pots against the good regs when I should be targeting the recs. Need to listen to @The_Don90 and pick my opponents and tables a lot more carefully.
Bankroll £829.
Good update, I somehow missed it originally.
Well Jack went, but you got good money.
I do think Ings is a terrific signing - he'll score plenty of goals for sure, he's a natural. Not sure how he fits in with Ollie Watkins though?
Returned from a 2 week break in The Dales on Friday morning and had a lovely two weeks. First week was a cottage in Barningham which was attached to a lovely village pub and all part of the Milbank Estate, how the other half live. The second week was a small cottage, near the village of Reeth, in the Dales Park and was possibly the most peaceful place I have ever stayed at. Both myself, our lass and Willow all agreed that we could definitely see ourselves retiring to this area when the time comes. It was a really relaxing break involving plenty of walks, visits to Barnard Castle, Richmond, Leyburn, Hawes, Middleham where we got to see the racehorses on the gallops, Ravenseat Farm where we had tea and scones served by Clive and Violet of Our Yorkshire Farm fame and a pint in The Tan Hill, the highest pub in England. Highlights were without doubt just the enjoyment of being out walking on The Dales and the serenity of the place. Willow's highlight was without doubt the numerous rabbits we encountered throughout the two weeks.
A typical view we encountered whilst walking The Dales
The view from the front door of our cottage in the second week
A view of Barnard Castle from the river
Favourite seat in The Dales, a 20 minute walk from our cottage
One Man and his Dog
Having been lucky enough to acquire tickets for Villa yesterday it was a pre match drink with our lad at the Aston Tavern
Then back to The Upper Holte
Thought we played OK without pulling up any trees and will always be able to say I was there for that Ing's GOAL. Highlight was the entire ground minus three thousand disgruntled Geordies and potato head chanting 'VAR my lord, VAR'. It was a vital three points for us as we have a tough run of fixtures post the international break and really could do with three points against The Bees next Saturday.
Emley AFC unfortunately lost 2-0 away at City of Liverpool in the FA Cup Preliminary round. They have had a tough start to life in the higher league and currently have two points from three games and are at home to local rivals Penistone Church on Friday night, a game I won't be bale to attend because of work. I will however be off to watch the U23's tomorrow night v Handsworth.
House is all done for now with the final few jobs completed over the last couple of days, new bed made, light fittings changed, curtains bought and up etc, etc.
Back at work tomorrow, always a tough day after a couple of weeks away, so will be playing just the four tonight - 7 at 7, £6k BH, £1k BH and £500 BH.
Bankroll £767
What a lovely part of the country.
In the second 'photo, what is the bird just landing or taking off? Is it some sort of raptor?
Is Willow fully recovered now?
Villa v The Bees? Can't wish you luck with that....